Patient and Family Partners (PFPs)

At Unity Health Toronto, our vision is The best care experiences. Created together. Achieving this vision relies on the continued partnerships and collaboration we have with our Patient and Family Partners (PFPs) at St. Michael’s Hospital. Our PFPs work beside us to advance our culture of patient and family partnered care by bringing the voice of patients, families and our communities to everything we do.

As volunteers, our PFPs voice the important perspectives and diverse views of the people we care for and the broader communities we serve. PFPs at St. Michael’s inform organizational goals and initiatives including but not limited to quality and safety priorities, policies and procedures, communication plans and educational resources. PFPs fulfill this role by drawing from their own personal experience as a patient or a family member of a patient and leveraging their overall life and/or career experiences.

Our PFPs are individuals who have been a patient or a family member of a patient at St. Michael’s and are interested and willing to partner with other PFPs, hospital staff, physicians, volunteers and students to advance our culture of patient and family partnered care. We are committed to working with a diverse group of PFPs who reflect the diversity of the communities we serve. As such, we encourage applications to become a PFP from persons with disabilities, racialized persons, First Nations, Inuit and Metis people, individuals of all sexual orientation and gender identities and others who may contribute to the diversity of our patient population.

Understanding the criteria to become a PFP is key to ensuring a strong partnership. Please take a moment to review the requirements:

Required experience: PFPs must have experience at St. Michael's as a patient or caregiver/family member of a patient within the past three years.

Age: PFPs must be 18 years of age or older.

Time commitment: All PFPs must commit to a minimum of one year. PFPs can choose the activities they wish to be involved in but are expected to be engaged in at least one activity during each year of their term.

The following quotes come from some of our current PFPs at St. Michael’s.

"Being part of the Patient and Family Council is a privilege. I feel treated as a true and equal partner by the staff at every activity I am invited to bring the patient’s perspective to. I co-create strategies with staff and leaders to provide the best patient partnered care possible at our hospital."- Claudia, St. Michael’s PFP